Dees_In_October

Mid-way through, 7 different vote-getters for the Dees.

Yep, can confirm what others have said. It felt strong enough in the stands and kept shifting. On the field after the game it as way worse. Bizarre how little is was mentioned in the broadcast considering you could see the ball being held up in the wind!

Our team will share the votes, so not much chance of us having the winner. Like this though:

Just gonna spew out my thoughts as usual! First of all, credit to North. They’re a better team than many recognise and but for some wasted chances could easily have taken this one. It was finals footy in a lot of ways: not necessarily champagne football, just two sides who happen to match up very well on each other. Absolutely critical for us was the straight set shot goalkicking of Fitzsimon and Sherriff at pivotal moments. They coolly took their opportunity when many others in this league would have faltered. Gay won some really crucial contests. Paxy did Paxy things (shout out to the guy yelling, “Go Karen!” throughout the game, much to my amusement). Big game from Hanks, just so clean and relentless in mopping up. Mackin also impressed with some beautiful long kicks and “right place, right time” marks, reflecting hard running. Mithen—these days, you know what you’ll get from her. Mistakes, yes, but always energy and hardness. After a shaky first half, Gillard didn’t put a foot wrong. That resilience is so good to see. Zanker was quiet then sacrificed her game and worked into it. Birch looked a bit off early and was a good barometer for how swirly the wind was, as even she was misjudging the ball drop! Some quieter games from a few of our big names and some uncharacteristic mistakes—but many lifted in the last. At times they tried to force chains of possession that just weren’t on and made some bad decisions with ball in hand. Our forwards connection was poor, and some structural difficulties due to Tayla being limited didn’t help. The kudos for this win, though, has to go to the defensive effort under an absolute onslaught in the third. Getting trapped like that in D50 is obviously not ideal, but sometimes you have to make do with what you have and then take your chances when they come—and to have retain the belief that you can make that happen. Which we did in the last. Of course, against the best opposition…the chances might simply never arrive. The enduring memory I’ll have from this game is seeing a player, midway through the last, turning through traffic and then snapping a wonderful, match-sealing goal. From the legends stand, I couldn’t quite make out who it was moving with such agility and executing such a classy finish. Hore maybe? Nope. Could it be…Daisy! Moving the best that she has in a while and with such a pure kick after missing so many targets throughout. Cue a standing ovation from a very pumped up crowd.

Some media for a couple of our rising stars. We've all become big fans of Mackin this season: https://www.womens.afl/news/114435/the-whirlwind-trip-that-brought-b-to-the-dees Mackin also on the podcast with Mithen, McNamara and West this week, a fun chat and lots of talk about her transition to Aussie Rules - the story about her first training is amazing: https://omny.fm/shows/lil-ben/lil-lize-s-blaithin-mackin Chaplin has been a solid contributor, persistence has really paid off: https://www.melbournefc.com.au/news/1248221/two-years-in-one-chaplin-s-rise-in-the-red-and-blue Her talk about the VFLW season made me reflect on the opportunities for games our players have had this year, even those that haven't necessarily been in the AFLW team consistently. Big leap from previous years after Covid wiped so many VFLW games in particular. As much as I like the idea of having the seasons at the same time so one can feed into the other, this year's never-ending season has clearly worked to accelerate development for players like Chaplin, Gillard, even West.

An interview with our coach. Mick is his typical composed self and plays the straight bat as usual, but some interesting bits and pieces here: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/the-w-with-sharni-and-sam/episode-thirteen-mick-stinear/101652428 Interview starts 20:30 Topics include: - Tackling the week off - Mick's views on finals home ground advantage & North's performance vs. Richmond - Demon spirit (mentioned 1,000 times haha) - Harris's recruitment and integration into the team - GF location, the current state of the league - Is this Daisy's last season?

"arctic blasts and sideways rains" - sounds like home sweet home at Casey Fields 🤣

The disrespect shown to AFLW members by the AFL (and some clubs, not Melbourne) has been pretty bad of late. Like, there have definitely been many, many stuff-ups and ridiculous decisions over the seven years of this league, but for the most part (despite plenty of valid venting!), paid-up fans have been willing to put up with it and be patient, in the view that these are teething problems, etc., etc., and that the most important thing is to expose new audiences even if that means alienating the core. But at this point, I agree, there's almost a sense of resignation about the lack of vision. It's not even about people's individual ability to go to games, it's about decisions being made that clearly hold back the competition and the complete lack of transparency and communication about those decisions. Excuses are wearing thin. No one's asking for miracles (you know, like a season where everyone plays each other). Just the most basic planning. If they don't have a concrete policy that sets a reasonable standard for finals venues by next season, and the planning to back that up, well, we'll know where we really stand. Personally, I quite like the Grand Final going to the higher ranked team. I think it's fair and good for the game nationally. BUT the policy should be that if a club/league can't provide an adequate venue in their own city, then the club forfeits the right and Princes(s) Park is secured in advance as the back-up. Why they didn't have such a decision in place prior to or during this season given the many obvious clashes because of the change of timing, is just so baffling. Fans have been raising this potential problem since the timing change was announced, then every week as Brisbane sat atop the ladder, with zero response.

Got my tickets! Feeling a bit nervous...but if we bring our best, we can do it.

Also please vote for Purcell and Bannan in the AFLW Fan Awards: https://www.womens.afl/fan-awards Purcell - Most improved player Bannan - Match Winning moment

Training photos - West looks unhampered by the leg issue from Friday night, L.Pearce still has shoulder strapping but participated. Not related to finals, but something nice to see in our week off

So many of the best players in the league are under 22. It makes it less of an 'encouragement' award than in the men's, though obviously it will shift over time. I definitely looked up Zanker's DOB to check eligibility!

If Paxy makes it and Kearney doesn't (unlikely?), that would bring them back even in AAs.

I was going to go and check out the oppo. I guess they didn't want my money? Also, I'd be pretty annoyed if I was one of only (presumably) a couple of thousand RIchmond members, and didn't even get a ticket to this game. Way to treat your members. There are problems with venue availability. Apparently, most options have been ruled out:

This sums up the vibe in the crowd for me. Just watching a regulation set shot and then everyone went off. She had every single person in the stadium fooled except perhaps blood relatives: Loved this as well. Great, humble team attitude (and Mithen hamming it up, of course!) Watching the replay I was looking out for what we did to deal with Marinoff. No direct tag but denied the footy (though she made up for it with tackles). And it's a trend: Also enjoyed on the replay how our players handled the niggle throughout the game and particularly in the last quarter. Flew the flag, not intimidated, but no one was sucked in - they did their best to get Harris. And Hore going in to help Daisy (not that she needs it) - bit of full circle stuff there and so much respect.

Tells the tale:

Us all right now: Gutsy win after a glacial start. They were running wild by the end. Crowd was pumped! Main thoughts: - How was Mithen still standing at the end of that game and, in fact, chatting without a care in the world with fans on the boundary, Thought she was a goner early! - Bannan. Some of the most breathtaking (and heart-in-mouth!) footy you'll see. At the point now where the crowd eggs her on, although that step around the mark was just next level. When she controls that last disposal on the run more often, look out. - Tackling pressure after quarter time. Could name many examples here, but Kate Hore on the wing, epic. Midfield worked super hard to turn the game, all the usual suspects. Heath rapidly becoming one of those. - Chaplin, Birch, Gillard all with some great moments as we wrestled back control. Lampard cool in a crisis. Mackin has absolutely no right to be as good as she is, months into her football career. Goldie tough as nails but with that speed, a rare combo. - Daisy had an almost game with the footy but still so many of those little things and the leadership that's not quantifiable. - By the last quarter, we simply outworked them, even in contests where we were severely outnumbered - never say die stuff! - Have no idea what went on late in the last (on the other side of the field) but it seemed spicy! GO DEES!

Best of luck for all! The Demon Army are the best cheer squad in the AFLW. Vocal, prepared for any weather, customised chants, and banners week in, week out when very few teams have them. The vibe created is a big part of the "love" part of my love-hate relationship with Casey Fields! Speaking of which, does anyone know what the renovations are that are underway? The surface itself it great, they only just did the training facilities a while back, so I'm guessing the existing changerooms?

There have been some very small crowds at Casey this season, but I guess it's all relative. Our average would have got a big boost from the MCG game, around 15,000 or so, which felt like some creative counting since it was a double header. Will be very interested to see the numbers this Friday night. A great opportunity for those westside and northside for whom Casey is like a day's journey away!

Looked up the match review because I knew, just KNEW there'd be something from that "incident". Well done to Heath for that being her first offence given how she plays - great tackle technique.